Chennai: Cop chases bike-borne snatchers, video goes viral
CHENNAI: In what could easily be mistaken for an action sequence in a movie, the CCTV footage of a sub-inspector chasing a biker duo in Madhavaram has gone viral in social media.
On Friday at around 10 am, Antilin Ramesh, an SI attached to the cyber cell of Madhavaram police district, was on his way to office on his two-wheeler when he noticed two men on a bike snatching the mobile phone of a pedestrian, identified as N Ravi (56) near Madhavaram flyover.
Ravi raised an alarm and ran behind the snatchers. Meanwhile, Antilin started chasing the duo on his bike. The CCTV footage showed the snatchers stopping their bike for a moment to decide whether to take a left or go straight, when the SI crashed his bike on theirs.
While the pillion rider escaped in one direction, the rider tried to get away on the bike in other direction, but the officer held on to him and managed to push him off the bike after running behind the bike for a few metres. The snatcher was handed over to Madhavaram crime wing and identified as N Arunraj (20) from Sharma Nagar.
Investigation revealed that the bike in their possession was stolen from Seven Wells a few days ago. Arunraj, along with two others, had snatched phones from a number of pedestrians. Based on information received from Arunraj, the police arrested B Navinkumar (23) of Mathur and N Vignesh (19) of Royapuram, and seized 10 mobile phones.
Police said the trio stayed in rented premises and snatched four phones on Saturday alone from North Beach, Royapuram and Madhavaram. All three were remanded in judicial custody on Saturday. Speaking to Express, Sub-Inspector Antilin said he suffered minor injuries. “It is a negligible injury. Also, I pushed the snatcher in such a way that he would not sustain injuries.”
Apart from appreciating the SI on Twitter after sharing the CCTV footage and calling him a “real life hero”, Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal also rewarded him with a shield at his office on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Mylapore police arrested five persons for indulging in a series of snatchings and vehicle thefts.